Author: suzannescottc

Reality is revealed to us only in fragments. The more fragments we perceive and parse, the more lifelike the mosaic we make of them. But it is still a mosaic, a representation -- imperfect and incomplete, however beautiful it may be, and subject to unending transfiguration. -Maria Popova, Figuring Transitions, even positive ones, are hard. … Continue reading Unmoored but Unbound

“There’s a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” -Leonard Cohen, “Anthem” (1992) The last few years have been difficult for me. I have experienced family drama and estrangement, several difficult surgeries and a scary illness. All the while, I was preparing emotionally to transition from my identity as a university professor to … Continue reading Pursuing the Crack of Light

“Better Angels” Diptych 20”x24” Left Panel Last week the leader of the Charles Houston Community Writers (CHC Writers) interviewed me in my studio at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton. Check out the resulting podcast here or on the CHC Facebook page.

What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? The world would split open. -Muriel Rukeyser, from “Käthe Kollwitz” (1968) I discovered Muriel Rukeyser’s poem “Käthe Kollwitz” in the late 1970s, just as I was discovering my feminist consciousness. The words resonated with me as I struggled to tell the truth about … Continue reading When The World Splits Open

Surveillance. It’s one of my obsessions. You can see it in my eyes: I draw them, I paint them, and I wear them embedded in necklaces and earrings. I convert into eyes objects in the world such as oval shaped boxes or discarded lamp globes. Sometimes my obsession takes the form of painting nude women … Continue reading The Revolutionary Gaze

I am now settling into my own art studio in Building 5 at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, Virginia. My building houses 15 artists, all working in different genres and media. I shared a small studio for a month with my friend and colleague, Rebecca Chase, for which I am thankful. But I knew … Continue reading In the Studio: Obsessions, Compulsions and Preoccupations

For the last 10 or so years, I have made my art in an at-home studio. It seemed like a luxury, at first, to be able to be with my materials anytime of day or night and to see the works-in-progress every day. There's something miraculous about letting multiple works settle into my consciousness and working … Continue reading Studio, Here I Come (again)

Summer seems like as good a time as any to start the blog I've been itching to write for at least the last five years. Students, most of them anyway, are away for the summer months, and it's a little early to begin the preparations in earnest for fall classes. And, perhaps most importantly, I'm … Continue reading And so it begins . . .